Half Dome Day Hike - June 8, 2006

We left Palo Alto at 5 am, reached the Yosemite Big Oak Flat entrance station (Hwy 120) at 8 am, and arrived to the trail parking lot at 8:45. It took us almost nine hours and some seventeen miles to get to Half Dome and back to the car (one hour stay at the top included). We left Yosemite Valley at 6 pm, had a brief dinner stop along the way, and came back to Palo Alto at 10:30 pm. Total driving distance, round trip: 380 miles.

Park your car at the well marked "Trailhead Parking", just southeast of Curry Village. Proceed on foot path parallel to the road to Happy Isles bridge over Merced River. Cross the bridge and follow a dirt road to your right to the trailhead.

Beginning in 2011, all people using the Half Dome Trail above the Stairway Dome (subdome) must have a permit in possession. The policy is enforced seven days per week when the cables are up.

Theater of operation:Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley. The trail starts at the Yosemite Valley floor, 4035 ft (1230 m), follows the Merced River, passes by the Vernal Fall (lower middle of the picture), Nevada Fall (right), and Liberty Cap (a dome to the left of the Nevada Fall), reaches the Little Yosemite campground, then winds through the forest in the upper center of the picture to the back side of Half Dome. From there, a cable route takes you to the top of the Dome, 8836 ft (2693 m). (Jon Vermilye's photo from www.lakeshoreimages.com. Posted with author's permission).

Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point, almost three miles away. (Jon Vermilye's photo from www.lakeshoreimages.com. Posted with author's permission).

9:30 amMerced River from a bridge below Vernal Fall.

Mirna on the bridge, Vernal Fall behind.

Mist Trail from the top of Vernal Fall.

Vernal Fall.

Vernal Fall.

Old rain gear worked perfectly on the Mist Trail (and so did my blue garbage bag). In May and June, Vernal Fall deposits enormous quantities of water on the Mist Trail, which should be more properly called "Tropical Storm Trail" in those two months.

Mirna and Dom

Liberty Cap and Nevada Fall.

Wild Merced River from a trail bridge below Nevada Fall.

(See how much less water there was in Merced River one year later, in early June 2007. While the winter of 2005/06 brought heavy snow to the Sierra, the winter of 2006/07 produced a near record low snow cover).

Explosion of water on Nevada Fall.

Nevada Fall.

Nevada Fall.

Nevada Fall.

10:45 amNevada Fall.

Half Dome from the trail along Merced River, in the Little Yosemite Valley. The small dome to the right of Half Dome probably does not have a name, but I'll refer to it as "Stairway Dome". It is a major hurtle on the trail to Half Dome.

12:00 pmImportant trail crossing: Two miles to Half Dome!

John Muir trail continues from here to Clouds Rest and beyond.

If you decide to turn back, there is 6.2 miles to the Valley floor via John Muir trail from here. But you wouldn't do that, would you?

The back side of Half Dome in the distance, from the Clouds Rest trail. (Ryan's photo from July 2003).

Approaching "Stairway Dome". The top of Half Dome peeks behind. The "Stairway Dome" section of the trail underwent a major renovation in the summer of 2005, and it is much safer now. Still, it is very steep, and requires a lot of effort. You climb winding stairs cut in rock to the top.

From Yosemite and Its High Sierra, by John Harvey Williams, San Francisco, 1921.

"This feat, long deemed impossible,
was first achieved in 1875 by George C. Anderson, who, with cable and
eye-bolts, built a trail to the top. But avalanches swept this away.
In 1919, under the auspices of the Sierra Club and with funds given
by a member, the new trail, shown here was constructed with iron posts,
steel cables, footholds, and, at the steepest point, a 50-foot ladder.
The final ascent, 800 ft., over an incline sometimes exceeding
45 degrees, is thus made safe and comparatively easy".

Photo credit: Camp Cury Studio

(CCC replaced those cables in 1934, but the route remained the same. The 50-foot ladder section was removed. The cables were upgraded at least once since 1934. More history of early ascents).